FIS No. 2 Praises Ski Jump; Sochi Confident in Legacy; Russia Reveals Medal Target

FIS No. 2 Praises Sochi Ski Jump

Secretary General Sarah Lewis says so far, so good for the International Ski Federation in Sochi.

Speaking to Around the Rings on the heels of the first international test events for 2014 – and the first ever Olympics dress rehearsal for women’s ski jumping – she says FIS is convinced the Games will be "really great" for ski jumpers.

"Feedback from FIS Ski Jumping Race Director Walter Hofer was highly complimentary about the organization, officials and volunteers, who were very engaged," she reports.

She also praised Sochi’s "Guaranteed Snow Program" by which precipitation from the previous winter is stored in a special reservoir and spread on the slopes in particularly warm weather – like last weekend, when temperatures for the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup reached 10 degrees Celsius.

The stored snow in fact enabled the competitions to take place," Lewis tells ATR.

Early December is notoriously early in the winter season and the Olympics are much later in the winter, by which time there should be much more natural snowfall as well as the production of artificial snow."

RusSki Gorki Jumping Center will be back in use in early February for a FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, which Lewis calls "another opportunity to refine the organization and get ready for Sochi 2014".

Sochi Confident in Legacy Plan

Sochi 2014 says it has confidence its venues will find a long life following the Games.

"The legacy plans for Sochi 2014 venues have been outlined; in order to assure a sustainable legacy plan after the Games, some of the venues were built as a temporary venue or as a demountable venue that, if needed, can be used elsewhere in Russia after the Games or used for other purposes such as an expo centre or similar," Sochi 2014 said Friday in a statement to Around the Rings.

"The permanent venues will be used after the Games on a local and national level and will also host a variety of major national and international events including the FIFA World Cup at the Olympic Stadium in 2018."

Notably, the statement from Sochi arrived just hours after FIFA confirmed the Olympic Stadium in Sochi as one of four venues for the 2017 Confederations Cup as well.

The organizing committee was responding to comments from IOC member Vitaly Smirnov, who was commenting on a Russian construction boom of stadia in recent years, which he says comes at the expense of training and competition for smaller venues.

"The infrastructure’s being built, costly stadiums are being built, palaces of sport," Smirnov was quoted as saying. "But is there any conception of how to use these structures afterwards?"

ROC Targets First in Medal Tally

The Russian Olympic Committee executive board met on Friday, targeting a top finish in the medal tally, according to Russian media reports.

ROC president Alexander Zhukov also announced that a list of 80 athletes shortlisted for the Russian Olympic team will be revealed shortly.

Also on Friday, the Russian Olympic Ball took place at the Kremlin, honoring Russian sporting achievements over the year.

Rousseff, Putin Discuss 2016, 2014 Cooperation

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is meeting with her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time this weekend, and among the many diplomatic topics, both leaders will discuss ways to help stage their Olympics.

Sochi is staging the 2014 Winter Games and Rio de Janeiro the 2016 Summer Games.

Friday marked the first of a two-day visit for Rousseff to Russia.

A statement from Putin’s press service said: "Russia is interested in advancing cooperation with Brazil," adding "during the visit a major package of documents will be signed on economic cooperation, military-technical cooperation and sports."

Isinbayeva Olympic Village Mayor

Yelena Isinbayeva was named mayor of the coastal Olympic Village.

Sochi 2014 President and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko made the announcement on Friday.

"We have chosen Yelena Isinbayeva to be the mayor of the athletes' village in the coastal cluster," he was quoted by Reuters following a Russian Olympic Committee board meeting.

"Later we'll name the mayor of the mountain cluster."

Isinbayeva is the world record holder in the women’s pole vault.

Chernyshenko also announced that each Russian region would have its own "embassy" in the Olympic Park.

"In these ‘embassies’ the regions will be able to demonstrate their historic and cultural legacy as well as their latest achievements in different fields."

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.

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